Infection with Bordetella pertussis can cause severe illness with neurological and pulmonary complications in children. Pulmonary hypertension is an early sign of potentially fatal disease and can ...cause failure of conventional respiratory therapy in severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We report a 4 1/2-year-old boy with B. pertussis infection who developed severe ARDS and pulmonary hypertension. Because of severe neurological signs the patient did not qualify for extracorporal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). After conventional ventilation, surfactant and high frequency oscillation ventilation (HFOV) failed, treatment with nitric oxide (NO) improved oxygenation, allowing recovery without the need for ECMO. The patient survived with few sequelae. Thus, this treatment may be an option in high-risk children who meet the criteria for ECMO but are excluded because of poor neurological status, as in our patient.
Health-related quality of life is increasingly used as an outcome measure in asthma. The aim of this study was to define the relationship between asthma symptoms, lung function and health related ...quality of life in a community based sample of people with asthma ranging from no recent asthma to severe persistent asthma. We recruited subjects at the age of 42 years from a well-described community cohort, the Melbourne Epidemiological Study of Childhood Asthma, to define this association. 161 subjects completed a respiratory symptom survey, the Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire and had lung function testing. According to the previous surveys and when applicable in agreement with GINA, subjects were classified into 4 groups: no recent asthma, sporadic asthma, intermittent asthma and persistent asthma, with the persistent asthma group further categorised by wheezing frequency and lung function. 55 had no recent asthma, 31 had sporadic asthma, 39 had intermittent asthma and 36 had persistent asthma. There was clear evidence of lower total scores with increased asthma severity, with median scores of 6.8 for the sporadic asthma group, 6.4 for the intermittent and 5.5 for the persistent asthma group compared to 6.9 in those with no recent asthma. All domain scores within the intermittent and persistent asthma groups were lower than scores for the no recent asthma group (p < 0.01). Those with persistent asthma and low FEV1% had the lowest quality of life scores (4.6). Analysis of this population cohort highlights that health related quality of life in patients with asthma strongly depends on symptom frequency and lung function and underlines the necessity of adequate treatment.
A pediatric consensus report on allergen-specific immunotherapy for children and adolescents is presented for Austria. Products on the market in Austria are presented and categorised according to ...studies performed on the target population of children and adolescents, their effectiveness and indication. In general, more clinical studies on children and adolescents are mandatory for most of the available allergen-specific immunotherapeutics. In addition, the use of allergen-specific immunotherapy in general should be promoted as the exclusive treatment with long-lasting effects in type I allergies in particular in children.
Compliance with medical treatment was evaluated in 89 children and adolescents with respiratory diseases using two methods of assessment: a double blinded covert recording of the use of an air ...compressor for nebulization of drugs and the determination of theophylline levels in serum. In the covert monitoring of inhalation the overall compliance with the prescribed medication was 47.6%. In the open randomized theophylline trial, 56%-71% of the patients (according to uncontrolled or controlled intake of the drug) received a dosage of theophylline which was too low to achieve a sufficient serum level in the range of 10-20 mg/l. This, however, was also due to the fact that in 72% of the cases physicians prescribed doses which were substantially below the recommended amount of drug according to age and weight. It is, therefore, concluded that compliance of medication is based on the patients adherence to the medication, to the efficacy of the drug itself and the attitude of the physician.
